Guide To Effective OCD Treatment Options

Deep Brain Stimulation

Patients with severe OCD experience all-consuming thoughts and debilitating compulsions that interfere with day-to-day life, and they often experience significant distress. Research indicates deep brain stimulation can be significantly helpful for these symptoms. Deep brain stimulation is recommended for situations where the patient has failed to respond to other treatments. Up to forty percent of obsessive-compulsive disorder patients aren't helped significantly enough by a combination of medication and therapy. Deep brain stimulation has been used to target two parts of the brain involved in OCD: the ventral capsule and the subthalamic nucleus. Before the studies, researchers weren't sure how these parts of the brain influenced obsessive-compulsive disorder or worked together. The study showed VC stimulation helped improve patient mood, while stimulating the STN helped improve the patients' overall cognitive flexibility.